Published on 31 July 2020
Research Funder Updates
As research funders continue to review their guidance for grant holders and applicants, the Research Operations Office has updated its website to reflect the current position of our major sponsors. In particular NIHR have begun to unpause their non-COVID related research, UKRI have new COVID-19 calls and CRUK is reviewing its spend following a decline in its fundraising income.
Wellcome Trust – Policy Update
The Wellcome Trust has recently updated and clarified some points around its Bullying & Harassment Policy around what information they wish to be informed about and how they handle allegations. Further information on the policy can be found on the WT webpage.
Research Investigator Time Policy – 1st August
A reminder that the new Research Investigator Time Policy is being introduced from 1st August 2020 to improve cost recovery and better reflect the true cost of research. Details of the new policy can be found on the ROO website. If you have any queries please contact your Research Development Team at the Research Operations Office.
Research Grants User Group Meeting – July 2020 Meeting
Thank you to everyone who attended the Research Grants User Group (RGUG) Meeting on Tuesday 28th July, the presentation slides and recording of the meeting are now available on the RGUG webpages.
Review of the UK Social Science PhD
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has launched an open consultation to inform their Review of the PhD in the Social Sciences. Through the consultation they want to capture views on the strengths and limitations of current doctoral study from within and outside of the social sciences. ESRC is particularly interested in examples from existing experience, the learning from trials of new or innovative approaches, and views of areas where change would be beneficial to enhance skills and ensure doctoral graduates are fully prepared for a range of future careers with their health and wellbeing safeguarded.
ESRC would like to hear from a diverse range of stakeholders and are seeking the views from all members of the research community, learned societies, government, business, third-sector organisations and others who have an interest in the future skills needed by social science PhD students. The findings of this review will directly inform the ESRC’s strategy for doctoral training and for recommissioning our Doctoral Training Partnerships in 2022/23. Alongside the launch of this consultation, ESRC is also publishing a comprehensive assessment of existing research evidence on the structure, funding and assessment of social science doctoral training.
The institutional response is coordinated by University’s ESRC DTP and they will contact all 26 participating departments with social science research. Please send your observations and comments to esrcdtp@admin.cam.ac.uk no later than Friday 28th August 2020. ESRC also welcome responses from individual PIs, groups of PIs, centres and institutes which can go directly to ESRC by Wednesday 16th September 2020.